Stop the Noise
by powergirl1729
Summary: Before they were B squad, the team had to survive school.  How the three met, became friends, and learned to control their powers.
1. Chapter 1

AN: This story might be considered AU, but they never really talk about training before Beginnings. As of now there are no parings, but it may become a sub-plot later.

Disclaimer: I don't own the computer I'm using to post this, do you really think that I own something this cool.

Sydney Drew walked into the SPD academy with her head held high and a big grin on her face. She was just as nervous as any of the other new recruits, but she was much better at hiding it. That morning she had spent over an hour curling her hair perfectly and redoing her makeup five times. She knew that it would probably all be ruined when training started, but it was essential to make a good first impression. She was upset that there was nothing she could do about the drab gray uniform, but at least everyone else would be wearing the same thing.

It was still early so not many cadets had arrived for check-in. Syd walked up to the bird-faced cadet behind the desk. She told him here name and he quickly pulled out an electronic folder and a name tag. He ignored her short attempt of small talking, so she walked away nervously.

She flicked the folder on scrolling through the information. There was nothing new. The SPD guidebook, her class schedule, some forms for her to sign. She eventually hunted down the list of cadets in the school.

It took her awhile to find her name, but soon she saw who her squad was.

Squad Q: Bridge Carson, Sydney Drew, Schuyler Tate, Xenon Zamba

Syd was weirded out by the strange names. Bridge was just random, but Schuyler. That name hadn't been used in almost century. Xenon… wasn't that an element or something. Syd quickly decided she was the only one with a normal name.

She saw that two of her team members had already checked in. she stood up and looked at her name tag. It was dull and gray like everything else in the school, stating her name and squad. She noticed a weird symbol in the lower left corner. She squinted trying to see what it was. It was small and blurred, but Syd thought it might be a fist.

She pinned the tag to her shoulder carefully brushing her hair out of the way. She began to look around for her squad members. She walked around occasionally nodding when she recognized someone from her old school. She had been pretty popular last year, so most of the people remembered her.

She was about to give up hope for finding her team when someone tapped on her shoulder.

Syd spun around to see a very interesting girl. Her nametag proclaimed that she was Xenon from squad Q, but Syd was starting to think her name wasn't the weirdest thing about her.

Xenon was tall and angular, no curves just bone and muscle in straight lines. Her hair was cut painfully short and was a bizarre blend of blond, red, and brown. Her eyes were obscured by sunglasses with purple frames. Her nose was oddly crooked like it had been broken several times. The one normal thing on her face was her teeth. Her teeth were blindingly white and perfectly straight.

The most unusual thing about her was the fact she seems to be covered in dust. She wasn't dirty, but dust clung to her uniform and thee were little pieces of paper stuck in her hair. Xenon seemed to notice Syd's look and self-consciously brushed some dust of her sleeve, or tried to anyway. The dust remained firmly connected to the cloth.

Xenon looked up flashing a sweet grin, "I guess we're on the same squad. Bridge and I were hanging out; do you want to join us?"

Syd nodded grinning. There was just something she liked about Xenon. Xenon walked them through the slowly filling lobby. They walked up to one of the stiff couches. There was a boy sitting there. He had light brown hair that fell in his eyes. He was leaning against the wall with headphones on and his eyes closed. Xenon sat down next to him still grinning, "This is Bridge. Bridge, Syd. Syd, Bridge. Great now we're all best friends"

Syd stuck out her hand but Bridge, but he only opened his eyes briefly and stared blankly at her before closing his eyes again. Syd briefly felt hurt, but Xenon explained in a jokingly exaggerated stage whisper, "Don't worry about him. He's a walking catatonic. He never responds to anyone"

Bridge chuckled slightly speaking quietly, "She's right. It's not personal, I just can't hear over the noise"

Syd rolled her eyes, "Can't you just take your headphones out then?"

Bridge smiled sadly, "That wasn't the noise I was talking about"

Neither him nor Xenon bothered to elaborate and a harsh voice interrupted over the loud speaker, "Freshmen from squads A through G, please proceed to the training field"

Syd watched as a large portion of the student got up to leave all, most looking around lost and confused. As the crowd thinned, a new boy walked up to them. He had the short cropped hairstyle of an army brat and his posture gave away plenty about his militaristic training. He sat down stiff back saying formally, "I'm Schuyler Tate. It seems like I'm the last one here"

Xenon grinned and stuck out her hand. Schuyler shook it formally, but Xenon seemed not to be intimidated by his stiff attitude. Schuyler glanced at bridge with an unreadable expression on his face. Syd followed his gaze and saw Bridge had pulled his knees to his chest and buried his head in his arms. Xenon noticed this too and leaned over to poke him. Bridge jumped upright and grinned crookedly at Schuyler. The army brat did not look amused, but scoffed and turned to talk with Xenon.

Xenon could easily keep conversation going; despite her odd appearance she had an interesting charisma that made it possible to make conversation between two people as different as Schuyler and Bridge. The conversation was ruined by the sound of an alarm.

Everyone but Schuyler jumped and Bridge fell over crashing to the floor. He curled into a tight ball shaking with his hands over his ears. Xenon leapt to her feet pulling Bridge into a sitting position as he we was almost trampled by some officers running past them. It took several minutes for Xenon to calm Bridge down enough for him to take his hand off his ears. He was still tense for several moments not relaxing till after the all clear had been sounded.

Syd couldn't help but glance at Schuyler noticing that he had a look at disapproval on his face at Bridge's weakness. He probably thought that it would be damaging to his career to be on the same team with someone like Bridge.

A new announcement came over the loud speakers telling squads M through T to report to the dorms. We all headed off following Schuyler, who seemed to know this base inside and out. We arrived at the dorms to find we were sharing cramped quarters with three other squads. There were six bedrooms that had been originally singles but someone had managed to stick an extra bed and desk in each of them.

Everyone's belongings had already arrived so they filed into their rooms. Syd was roomed with Xenon naturally. For the first time (ever) Syd was regretting packing so much. Her bad was covered with stupid suitcases and she only had half a cupboard and half a closest to put all her clothes in.

Xenon didn't have quite as many bags. She had one large suitcase, a box of miscellaneous stuff, and a backpack. She glanced at Syd's covered bed intrigued. "You can take most of the closet space if you want. My clothes don't need much room."

Syd was too grateful to protest, she was very particular about her clothes. Xenon had to climb over her desk to reach the door when someone knocked. Bridge was at the door, but before he could say anything Xenon nodded, "I know. Just a minute"

She crawled over her desk again grabbed something from her backpack tossing it to bridge. He grinned and left quickly. Syd asked what it was and Xenon shrugged, "Some new music. I promised I'd get some new albums when we were hanging at the airport"

They started to get their rooms ready when another announcement came through their rooms. "Squad Q is to report to the outside training"

Xenon grinned at Syd. "I guess it's show time"

If you review you get a fast update and awesome points.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I haven't updated in forever for a good reason. NaNoWriMo. I just finished my novel, YAY. Hopefully, updates will me coming much faster. Thanks to all my reviewers: Psycho Tangerine, SPD Time Shadow, NinaSkylove, GemmaUzumaki, SunshineWitch91, and Ghostwriter.

First was regular Phys. Ed. They were shown around the training grounds and then brought back to the school. Next was the tour of all the classrooms. After they'd been shown the classrooms, they were stuck in orientation with the rest of the cadets. Then was lunch, then more of a tour.

The last activity for the day was icebreakers. "Icebreakers" was run by a bored looking teacher that spent the entire time typing up a report. Syd tried asking them why they had this at the end of day after they'd spent all day walking around together, but the teacher snapped at her. "All the squads are on a rotation. It's not my fault this happened to be the last activity for you _poor_ kids. Now go talk to each other.

They all moved as far away from him as possible without leaving the room. They'd been chatting all day, but now that they had to talk to each other it was awkward. Syd spoke up first, "So what schools did you go to before here? I went to Primingdales High"

Schuyler looked surprised, "Public school?"

Syd rolled her eyes. It wasn't like she hadn't expected that, "Yes, there is nothing wrong with public school. Our school was actually better than that stupid all girls one. My parents would have sent me there, but I begged them not to"

Schuyler didn't look convinced, "I've gone here ever since I was born. My Dad was the Red Power Ranger"

Syd couldn't hide that she was impressed by that. It still didn't make sense that he was in a squad so far down the line though. All the kids raised in the academy were in A and B squad. It was doubly strange that he would be stuck with misfits like them. Syd was smart, but not a genius like most of the other recruits.

Her train of thought was cut off by Xenon, "Bridge and I are from STA"

Syd felt her jaw drop. She was at a loss for words, but Schuyler wasn't, "Smith's Technical Academy. You went to the intergalactic school for geniuses?"

Bridge grinned, "Not everyone in that school's a genius. Well, most of them are, but not all of them. More geniuses then you'd normally find at a high school"

Bridge trailed of slowly and Schuyler raised an eyebrow. "Isn't there a rule prohibiting two kids from the same school being on the same squad?"

Xenon looked almost guilty for a second, but she shrugged, "I guess it was fluke. Too late now"

Syd laughed, "So how was genius school. It must have been so much more exciting than my school"

Xenon laughed, "Trust me, genius high school is just the same as normal. You've got jocks, pretty girls. You even have nerds amongst the geniuses"

They all laughed at that. It wasn't that hard to think of each other as casual friends after one day. Syd found herself getting used to Bridge's odd ramblings and long silences. Schuyler still freaked her out some, but even he seemed to be relaxing. Very, very slightly.

After that was dinner and they hung out until curfew at ten. Bridge retreated into his room quickly and Schuyler disappeared soon after that. Xenon went back to their room at eight, but Syd was still catching up with some of her friends from Primingdales.

She was used to being the social butterfly so she didn't get back to her room until exactly ten. Xenon was sitting on her bed writing something on an old sheet of paper. Syd was surprised. Very few people still used paper. Ever since schools had been required to use electronics, paper use had gone down.

Xenon looked up quickly hiding her papers. "You catch up with all your friends then?"

Syd smiled maneuvering around the room to her own bed, "Most of them. Not many public school kids can make it into an exclusive school like this. And even less can afford the tuition."

Xenon nodded, "I know the feeling. I made it through school on scholarships"

"You got a scholarship to genius school?"

"I was a charity case. My theory is: they wanted Bridge so badly that they'd take me if it meant him coming too"

Syd rolled her eyes, "That can't be true. Is Bridge really that smart?"

"Course he is. You'll see in tech class tomorrow"

Syd moaned burying her face in her pillow. She hated those classes. Computers hated her plain and simple. "Are we in all the same classes together?"

Xenon somehow understood through the pillow, "Yep. There's some program now. You're in all the same classes as you're team. At least as a freshman."

Syd moaned again, not because she didn't like her new team, she just didn't want to spend what seemed like every second of the day hanging out with them.

The next morning Syd was one of the first to get up. Most of the others that were up were too tired to talk so the common room was silent.

Syd quickly got some simple cereal and milk. There was always a large selection of food here but she didn't feel like waiting. She was surprised when Bridge sat down next to her. He had a plate full of toast and a grin on his face.

Syd nodded to him tiredly, "morning"

Bridge started to eat his toast then started talking, "So have you seen the class schedule yet?"

Syd paused right before eating another spoonful, "We haven't received our schedules yet. Right? I didn't miss some big announcement?"

Bridge shrugged, "Not officially, but the files are hardly classified. It was easy to find them."

Syd wasn't really surprised; she'd heard stories of kids hacking into the school files to find class information, but not at a school like this. "Don't let Schuyler hear you say that. It's probably against regulation or something"

Bridge shook his head, "No. It's wrong to hack into academic files, but not personal files"

Syd wrinkled her nose at that, "You're allowed to hack into our personal files"

"There is a loophole in regulation, but I'm not going to use it. There's no real point to looking up personal information anyway. I don't care about anything that happened before the academy"

Syd nodded slightly freaked out. She didn't mind that Bridge seemed much happier, but it was a stark contrast to the distracted, darker Bridge that had been around yesterday. She finished her cereal and walked back to her room. By this time, Xenon was already up and slowly moving around.

Syd maneuvered slowly to their closet pausing to ask, "Is Bridge by any chance bipolar?"

Xenon turned around giving her a blank, bleary-eyed look, "what"

Syd repeated the question grabbing a new uniform quickly. Xenon shrugged, "He's not bipolar, he is just more aware in the morning. His brain only functions when every else's doesn't."

Xenon had changed into her uniform already and fell back in her bed closing her eyes, "Can I just sleep for another day?"

Syd chucked a pillow at her, "No, don't get your uniform wrinkled on the first day. It gives the wrong impression"

Xenon didn't get up, and Syd gave up and began applying her make-up quietly. She didn't hear when Xenon got up and walked up behind her.

"You know we have physical training next?"

Syd paused, but continued, "This is non-run."

Xenon ran a brush through her hair that was curling in ever direction, and was finished getting ready.

Syd watched her with interest, "Did you grow up with a lot of brothers?"

Xenon turned around surprised, "How'd you know?"

"You don't act like most girls I know. I guess your brothers did appreciate that whole girl routine"

Xenon smiled, shaking her head sadly, "Not exactly. My brothers always hogged the bathroom"

Syd didn't have time to ask what that meant; there was a knock at the door. It was Schuyler, with a sleepy Bridge behind him.

They walked out to the training grounds, where they changed into their training outfits. Syd couldn't help but notice that Xenon had bizarrely long fingers. They had an extra joint that seemed to bend both ways. Xenon nodded at Syd's look, "I'm one sixteenth alien. From Raxacoricofallapatorius. It's pretty weird"

Syd nodded trying to remember where she'd heard that before, but I wasn't coming to her.

They arrived at the training grounds. Schuyler glanced at his watch anxiously. Syd poked fun at him, "Is the teacher late? I thought it was impossible for anyone to be late here"

The others were all silent and Syd turned to see their trainer. He was at least seven feet tall and his skin has light blue-gray color of marble.

She backed away nervously. The trainer looked down at her with dislike. He looked at the others. He seemed to be happy that Schuyler was one the team, but when he saw Bridge and got angry.

With his headphones in and sunglasses on, Bridge was spacing out. When the trainer pulled the headphones away, he snapped alert stumbling back falling to the ground.

The trainer dropped them to the ground. Bridge pulled himself up slowly, watching the trainer carefully. "You think that this is a playground? These are strictly forbidden"

Bridge shrugged, still trying to get his bearings. "I don't know. I was just being…"

Xenon cut him off quickly, "He's really sorry. At our old school, we were allowed to listen to music. I never did, but it was an honest mistake."

He looked at her with less disgust, then the others, "He can stand up for himself. As for you", he turned to Bridge, "You can't chill out to tunes while you're in a fight. Do you understand cadet?"

Bridge nodded dumbly.

"Do you understand, cadet!"

"Yes, sir"

"I SAID, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"YES, S-SIR!"

"Look me in the eye when you talk to me"

"Yes, sir!"

The trainer backed away satisfied that Bridge was paying attention. "OK, cadets. I am your trainer. Call me coach. This is not going to be a cake walk. Train hard, never slack, and you might pass this class. We'll start with the warm up two mile run."

They lined up at the starting line, and the trainer began to count off. Pausing, before saying go he commented, "Cadet Carson, those gloves are not regulation. This is a warning today; tomorrow they're confiscated. Start, You have twenty minutes"

They all paused before sprinting down the track. The class was no joke. Three hours of running, lifting, and every other type of exercise on the planet. By the time they were done, all the cadets could barely walk for exhaustion. Even perfect Schuyler was limping and gasping for breath.

Right before they left for the showers, their trainer spoke to Bridge again, "I hope that you'll remember to only wear regulation uniform tomorrow."

Bridge nodded, "Clear as crystal, which is a weird phrase. Crystalline structure distorts the vision, so looking through crystal refracts you vision making it almost impossible to see clearly"

Xenon covered Bridge's mouth and pulled him away. Syd and Schuyler followed quickly.

"I think he's starting to like you", Xenon joked lightly. The others laughed tensely.

Syd joked, "I hope that our other teachers are a little nicer"

Schuyler nodded, "I hold a class's difficulties in high regard, but that was ridiculous"

Syd patted him on the back, "You're finally learning to be normal"

Bridge brushed some splinters out of Xenon's hair. "How did you get those?"

She shrugged, "Remember that obstacle course. The wooden tunnel-thing collapsed when I went through it. That's why I was behind"

Bridge laughed at that, "Try not to kill yourself"

They arrived back at the school and showered quickly. Then was lunch where Xenon spent the entire time trying to pull splinters out of her hair. There was still wood in her hair when they left for the next class, which was Computers.

The room was several degrees warmer than the rest of the school and all the students were wondering around not daring to touch the computers. Syd watched as Bridge and Xenon acted like little children in a candy shop examining the equipment.

A young pretty woman walked in. She had thick, curly hair that almost covered her large cat ears. The cadets all turned to watch her as she began to speak, "Hi, I'm Dr. Manx. Your real teacher is dealing with an explosion in the C lab. He wants you to fill out some forms on your portable binders. Could you pass them out?"

The girl Dr. Manx was talking to ran to do as she said. Everyone got their tablets. Syd watched as everyone struggled to get the machines to work. She walked over to Bridge, hoping he could help her.

"This is ingenious. To test our computer skills by making us fix our own machines. So simple, yet so smart. I like this teacher", Bridge rambled on about what he was doing.

Turning on her won binder, Syd watched it boot carefully. She was rewarded by a message that flashed almost too fast for her to read:

**Unauthorized chip. Remove before turning on. **

She turned off the binder and flipped it over. The chip was hidden in one of the tiny ports. She couldn't remember the name, but she remembered that those microchips had been in style very briefly, until people started losing them because they were the size of ants.

She turned it back on and the screen came up without a hitch. She started filling out the forms, until she noticed Bridge doing something weird with his tablet. "You know you just have to take out the chip right?"

Bridge nodded shaking his tablet. "I know. I just hacked into the chip and using the chip hacked into the hard drive of the tablet. It wasn't hard"

Xenon walked up to them, "How long it take you to figure it out?"

Syd shrugged, "I figured it out as I turned it on. It was complete luck; I am no good with computers"

Xenon grinned, "That just means you used your brain. You figured it out before me, and I'm from the genius school"

Syd smiled; it wasn't everyday that anyone called her smart. Most people dismissed her as the dumb blond.

She heard some cruel voices. Bridge was being backed into the wall by some tall guys. Xenon noticed as well and moaned, "Not this again."

Syd continued watching nervously, "I take it this is pretty normal for you?"

"Just a bit, Bridge is a loser, and there are always bullies around to remind him"

Bridge was forcing a smile as one of the bullies pushed him against the wall. Schuyler walked up to the girls, "Bullying is against regulation. Isn't anyone going to stop them?"

Xenon sighed stretching calmly, "Dr. Manx left ten minutes ago. No one's going to stop this from happening, unless you want to do it"

Schuyler glared at her coldly, "You're his friend. Why don't you do something?"

Xenon pulled another splinter hair and tried flicking it onto the floor. It stuck to her finger like glue, "I was last in every exercise today. If I tried to fight them, I would end up in a battered heap on the floor"

Schuyler looked worried, and Syd had to hold in an Aww at his caring about Bridge.

Bridge said something the others couldn't hear, and the bully slammed a large fist into his face. As the other bullies crowded around, Sky ran into the fight.

Bridge fell to the floor unconscious as Sky slammed the bully against the wall.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Now it's time for a walk in Sky's shoes. Thanks to Vampuric Spider, Psycho Tangerine, anonimo, Ghostwriter, GemmaUzumaki for reviewing.

Schuyler stood in the command center. He could feel his lip bleeding and a growing bruise growing on his ribs, but he didn't show it. Next to him, stood another cadet, he couldn't remember the name of. The other cadet was much worse for wear. He had two black eyes and his nose had just finished bleeding.

Cruger paced in front of them grimly. Schuyler knew this technique well. The commander tried to make you admit that you were guilty by making you nervous; it was an old trick, but useful.

Cruger turned to them speaking in a grave tone, "Are either of you going to tell me why Cadet Carson is in the sick bay unconscious, with a broken nose and sprained wrist?"

Schuyler waited for the other to speak, but there was just silence. Cruger examined them and begun again, "Who threw the first punch?"

The other cadet spoke up before Schuyler even registered the question. "It wasn't me sir. Cadet Tate came out of nowhere and attacked me"

Cruger turned to the accused, "Is what Cadet Cooper said true?"

Schuyler took a deep breath and took a step forward to explain, "Yes. In the fight between the two of us, I threw the first punch. If I'm allowed to explain myself, I hit him, because he was bullying Bridge and I was trying to protect my teammate. I did lose my temper and I'm willing to accept the consequences for that"

Cruger turned to Cooper, "Is that true? You know the consequences for bullying"

Cooper looked panicked, but pulled himself together, "I am not the one with a history of violence and rebellion. He was hitting Bridge and I tried to stop him, but he hit me too"

Schuyler felt his jaw drop, "What?… That's not true. I didn't… I wouldn't. Think about it, why would I hit my own team member in front of a classroom full of students?"

Cruger shook his head, "Look, I don't have any sure way of telling who started it. You're both on suspension until further notice. Be warned, the smallest infraction could get you suspended or expelled. Dismissed"

Schuyler saluted and followed Cooper out the door. As the doors to the command shut, Dr. Manx walked away from her computer station nervously, "You could have passed judgment on them. Why didn't you?"

Cruger turned, "I want them to learn their lesson. I believe in second chances and this is a chance for both of them to change"

In the hallway, neither of the cadets were thinking about change. Schuyler stopped Cooper, "What was that? Are you trying to get me expelled?"

Cooper snorted, "Yes that was the point. You better stay out of my way from now on, or you will get expelled. That's a promise"

Schuyler's expression didn't break, "Well, I promise that if you ever try to hurt my team again, I will personally kick you out of the academy"

"You'd be too scared to defy your regulation. If you really want to impress me, fight me off campus. Fist fight one on one with no teachers to save your pretty face"

"I'd be glad to, but I feel like giving you a fighting chance. Survive a month of training and it might be almost be a fair fight"

Cooper shoved Schuyler lightly and walked away smirking. Schuyler took a deep breath and started toward the sick bay. He had to worry about Bridge first.

Bridge was in the sick bay having a chat with the nurse. When she saw Schuyler walked in, she excused herself quickly and ran out of the room. Schuyler couldn't help but smirk, "I see you made an impression on the staff already"

Bridge smiled wryly, "I always make a habit to get to know the medical staff. I'll be seeing a lot of them"

Schuyler dropped the happy expression, "It doesn't have to be that way. Go to Cruger and tell him what happened"

Bridge sat up wincing. He looked terrible; his face was swollen and his arm was in a cast. "You have no idea what it's like being the official unofficial punching bag of the school. Not to be rude, but you're a spoiled army brat. Everyone's too afraid of your status, if not afraid of you. Don't talk to me about how it should be"

He pulled himself out of the bed cringing. He limped slowly toward the door, but a nurse tried to stop him gently. "Please, sit back down. You need to stay here for at least another twelve hours."

Bridge smiled sweetly, "Oh, don't worry about me. I'm tougher than I look, which is good because I look like a total wimp."

He tried to leave gain, but the nurse still tried to push him back, "I know that you're really trying to do your job. I'll be back soon trust me"

The nurse let him go doubtfully. Bridge limped down the hallway holding back weak winces. Schuyler caught up with him easily, "You can't just leave. You're hurt"

Bridge ignored him pulling out his headphones. Schuyler stopped walking unsure of what to do. He didn't like poking his nose in other people's business, but he couldn't just watch Bridge get beaten like this.

He turned to walk in the opposite direction and ran into someone. He apologized until he recognized the guy. "Dru, I thought you weren't coming here"

They banged bracelets like it was old time and Dru explained, "I wasn't, but after all that you said, I couldn't let you down like that. How's the academy? I know this is your dream"

"Not so good", Schuyler looked down the ground, "So far, I've been stuck with the biggest group of misfits possible. My roommate got beat up, and I'm on probation"

His friend winced, "That's terrible. What did golden boy do to deserve probation?"

"I stood up for my roommate and punched a bully. Then he said that I was the one bullying Bridge"

Dru patted his back reassuringly, "Well, now that you're the newest bad boy, why don't you come to the party on Friday?"

Schuyler moved back, "I'm already on probation. I can't risk it"

Dru shook his head jokingly, "You're always work and no fun. I've been sneaking out for parties for years and they've never caught me. They don't check up on a spotless record like me."

He walked away with the usual swagger in his step. Schuyler slumped against the wall thinking. It couldn't hurt too much to go to one little party.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Thanks to my reviewers, SunshineWitch91, Vampuric Spider, and Ghostwriter. You all receive virtual hugs.

The first month at the academy passed by quickly. Bridge true to his word went to the sick bay over ten times. Most of them were in the first week, stopping after the gym coach realized the only way to stop him running into walls and passing out from terrible headaches was to let him wear his gloves. Even after that Bridge was rather accident prone. Surprisingly, only three of the times he was sent to the sick bay had to do with bullying. On the bright side, he was the top of his class and undisputed king of the computer lab.

Xenon was almost as accident prone as Bridge, except instead of running into trees, trees fell over and almost crushed her. She was excused from physical training two weeks in after she broke her leg when the monkey bar collapsed. It also became apparent quickly that Xenon was just as much a bully magnet as Bridge. She wasn't bullied as badly, but there was a large group of "pretties", as she liked to call them, that always hassled her. It was easy to make fun of her uncomfortable body and perpetual mess. It was still a mystery as to why everything stuck to her like she was a giant lint roller.

Syd was living her life as one of the queens to the school. Most classes were difficult, but she could ask Bridge to reteach her everything several times. He was patient with her when she was patient with him. She was one of the most average students in that school. Slightly less than average intelligence bit slightly above average physicality. She didn't have a problem with that.

Schuyler was the head of his class when it came to exercise. No one could beat his time for runs or bench press as much. Everyone knew he was the golden boy for the entire school. The only people who knew any different were his party buddies. Dru had managed to fully drag Schuyler into all the parties off campus. Somehow they managed to hide all the hangovers and exhaustion. No one suspected that he was doing anything wrong even though he was still on probation.

Schuyler had long forgotten about his fight with Cooper until exactly a month into school. He was walking along the hallways with no where specific to go, when someone slammed him into the wall. Cooper was the proud culprit.

"So Tate, you pushed off this encounter for a month, but I didn't forget. Tomorrow, at the Wraith Club, no later than ten, be there"

Always short and to the point, Cooper walked out. Schuyler wanted to chase after him immediately but restrained himself. He walked to Dru's room quickly knocking loudly on the door.

His friend opened the door looking miserable. It was Saturday and they'd both been partying last night. Schuyler was fully cleaned up, but it seemed Dru hadn't even gotten up yet. The put together boy was used to this and quickly grabbed some painkillers and water. Dru took it struggling to swallow.

Schuyler watched slowly as his friend and role model rubbed his temples moaning weakly. Dru quickly pulled himself together, "Do you remember what happened last night?"

"I seem to remember dragging you away from some sleazy redhead in the bar, but nothing too bad."

Dru snickered, "Why'd you pull me away? I could have had some real fun"

"As fascinated as that is, I have something more important to talk to you about"

Dru fell back on his bed closing his eyes, "What is it?"

"Cooper wants to fight me at the Wraith Club tomorrow. I don't want to back down on this guy, but what if he gets me in serious trouble?"

Dru seemed to wake up immediately, "The Wraith Club. That place is famous in the street fighting. This guy has connections."

Schuyler looked at him amused, "Enough connections to get him kicked out?"

"If he was able to set up a fight for two SPD cadets, then enough to get him locked up for life"

"So, should I go?"

"Shit, yes. You give this guy an inch and he'll walk all over you. Kick his sorry ass and then turn him in"

"I don't think I should. This puts everything I've worked my whole life for in danger"

"Listen to me. If you always play by the rules, then you'll end up dying full of regret. Go to the club"

Schuyler nodded and left before his friend could pull him into another party. He had to be perfectly rested for tomorrow night. It amazed him that Dru had managed to live his double life for so long. It was almost impossible to keep things from Bridge and he never came back as drunk as Dru.

He walked back to his room, stopping when he saw Bridge playing with his computer happily. Schuyler was too used to his roommate's failed experiments. He grabbed some sweat to change into jogging clothes, but Bridge interrupted him, "Did Cooper threaten you?"

Schuyler froze nervously, "How do you know that?"

Bridge shrugged not looking up, "I had a feeling. Don't fight him on my account."

"It has nothing to do with you now. I just want to take down that self-centered jerk."

Bridge nodded before saying quietly, "Don't get in trouble. You're the only thing standing between Xenon and me getting bullied even more"

Schuyler hesitated and bolted from the room. Bridge had a way of giving him advice without realizing it. He passed Syd, who was talking with some of her friends, they didn't acknowledge each other. The squad had already spit so it was a team during class and four separate people outside of academics.

He walked into the public computer terminal. Several students were doing projects or contacting home using the outdated computers. Xenon was jumping up and down trying to grab something from the top of a large circuit breaker.

He walked over to her curiously. As he approached, she managed to topple a large metal box that landed with a loud thunk on her head. She sat down rubbing her head slightly. He rushed over to see if she was ok, but the strange girl brushed him off as usual. "I have a thick skull. Now that you're here could you get my binder from up there?"

Schuyler was easily able to reach to the top and swipe her binder. He handed it to her and she dusted it off carefully. Tired of waiting for an explanation, he asked how it had gotten there. She shrugged nervously, "Some guys thought it would be funny to steal my stuff and hide it in really tall places. I was tall enough to get most of it, but I still have to find my shoes"

She said this with a light casual tone, but Schuyler didn't miss the sadness, "I've said it before, why don't you tell someone about this?"

She shrugged, "If they find out that you can fight back they'll hit you even harder. Lie low and take the hit; you'll find life is much easier"

She walked away before Schuyler had a response to that. He was so distracted that he couldn't even remember why he came there in the first place.

Tomorrow, Schuyler found himself walking into the Wraith Club with ease. He'd told his name to the bouncer and the shark-dog alien had let him in with a toothy grin. This didn't make him feel any better. The club wasn't much different than the clubs he'd crashed with Dru, except for the ominous metal cage in the center.

No one was fighting now, but even the wildest dancers kept a good five feet away from it. Schuyler walked to the bar and flashed his fake ID to a bored barman. He was served a bitter tasting alcohol. It wasn't enough to impede his fighting skills, but enough to make him foolishly brave.

He was interrupted by a very drunk Cooper. He was being supported by a tipsy, giggling brunette with aqua skin. The cadet grinned at Schuyler drunkenly, "So, you actually came. Welcome to my world"

He tripped over his own feet, and caught himself on the bar. Schuyler couldn't help but think that this would be much easier than he'd expected. Cooper regained his composure, "You want to fight now, or to you want a last drink before I crush you?"

Schuyler didn't take the bait, "I'd like to fight now, before you pass out."

He downed his drink and walked straight backed to the fight circle. He spotted Dru out of the corner of his eye. His friend seemed to be making a deal with some slippery people. He'd better win if Dru was betting on him.

Cooper regained most of his composure by the time the DJ had called order to the club. It was oddly quiet as they entered the cage. Cooper made a great show of removing his shirt flexing hardened muscles. Schuyler didn't waste energy on the crowd, but removed his shirt as well.

They sound of a gunshot rang out and Schuyler was caught off guard. Cooper, knowing exactly what it was, managed to land a solid punch to the taller boy's stomach. Schuyler felt the wind rush out of him and retaliated by kicking the bully in the chest sending him reeling into the sharp mesh of the cage.

The crowd booed and hissed, but it didn't matter. Cooper pulled himself up laughing tipsily, "Your clean cut fightin' style ain't gonna cut it here"

The crowd cheered. Schuyler sneered at the crowd. Cooper took this distraction to smash Schuyler's into the metal cage. He felt the metal scraping and tearing his skin brutally. He dropped to the ground and was immediately assaulted by a barrage of kicks.

So this was how Cooper won his fights. He caught his opponent off guard and smashed him into the ground mercilessly. Schuyler struggled to pull himself up as the whirl of fist and feet grew frenzied. He felt like his ribs were either broken or breaking and his face had to be a bloody mess.

He felt himself losing consciousness. He put his arm up defensively. A warm feeling spread through his body up to his arm and a bright light flashed before his eyes. Cooper fell to the ground and Schuyler pulled himself up looking around desperately. If anyone had noticed the light, they didn't react.

The crowd was a loud jumble of noise tearing into his brain as he pinned Cooper. He looked up unsure of what a "win" was. The crowd seemed to have turned on their champion. There were still cries in favor of the defeated bully, but most of the people were screaming for Schuyler to crush Cooper.

The steady cadet looked down at the drunk, whimpering cadet. He pulled him to his feet and began to pummel him with his fists. Cooper seemed to have given up on winning this and let Schuyler slam him like he was a light punching bag. As Cooper fell to the ground unconscious, the sound of sirens blared.

The cage was unlocked for Schuyler and he followed everyone else streaming for the exits. Several patrons patted him on the back, but most were too busy not getting trampled.

Schuyler and Dru made it back to HQ with surprising ease. Dru left still laughing drunkenly about the fight. Schuyler thought that he'd successfully gotten to safety when the light in the dorm room came on. Xenon was sitting cross-legged on a couch doodling something in her notebook.

Schuyler froze unsure if she'd even noticed him. He began to move, but she spoke with a light tone, "I know that you're not particularly book smart, but you should know that you're not going to be able to hide that face tomorrow."

He had forgotten about his face until now. As the adrenaline receded, he felt like collapsing in pain. He traced a finger across his face. Xenon pulled out a mirror and flashed it at his face. He winced.

One of his eyes was already turning black. There were numerous scrapes down one side of his face. His lips were spilt in multiple places and his nose was bleeding. As he winced he felt he chest scream in pain. He lifted his shirt and examined his chest. It was a rainbow of colors.

Xenon looked sick and held his gaze carefully. "What were you doing?"

Schuyler murmured softly, "I got in a fight"

"I can see that"

He tried to think of a good lie, "I was mugged. I barely got away with my life"

She nodded, and for a second he thought she believed him. "So, Cooper mugged you"

At his shocked expression she shrugged, "Bridge told me. He is more observant than you realize. He's more observant than he realizes."

Schuyler sat wincing, "I didn't fight him for you guys. I did it for my own selfish pride."

"Well, it's the thought that counts"

"Why are you so angry?"

"Why have you been going to so many parties?"

He froze, not bothering to respond to that, "Bridge can smell the alcohol on you. He thinks it's from your buddy Drew or whatever. I figured it out easily"

Schuyler sighed beginning to place his head in his hands, but stopping because it hurt too much. Xenon hesitated before asking the next question, "How did you win?"

He looked at her sourly, "Are you saying that you don't think I could beat him?"

She made a face, "No, that's not what I meant. I mean you look like you got the crap kicked out of you, but you came walking in here like you were proud. If you'd lost, you'd walk I here looking like a kicked puppy"

"I don't know what happened. He had me down and he was hitting me really hard; there was a flash of light and he fell down"

She closed her notebook thoughtfully, "You sure it's not just you're powers acting up?"

He stopped and looked at her blankly. She covered her mouth in surprise, "You don't know?"

"What don't I know?"

"That you have powers"

He laughed tensely, "I'm no superhero. I've earned my position fair and square."

Xenon rolled her eyes, "Powers aren't cheating. In my case, they just get in the way"

"I don't have powers"

"Yes you do. Everyone on this squad has powers"

"Really? And what would those powers be?"

She sighed and leaned back, "I wouldn't know what your abilities are. Bridge is a psychic and I'm a human magnet"

He laughed despite himself. She glared and concentrated on an empty cup on the table. It rattled and flew through the air missing her extended hand and smacking her between the eyes. She shook her head and tossed it back onto the table, "Well, I've said it before. I have a thick skull"

Schuyler didn't laugh, "What makes you think I have powers?"

"Bridge is a psychic. He can sense these things"

"Is he really psychic?"

"Of course… not what you'd be familiar with. He hears everyone's thoughts at once so he can barely hear his own thoughts let alone pick out specific voices. His powers are centered in his hands so he wears gloves to dull any pain."

"So that's why he never takes them off. What can Syd do?"

"She doesn't know. I've been trying to get it out of her, but she doesn't understand. I guess all abilities aren't as obnoxiously obvious as mine"

Schuyler stood and attempted to walk toward his room, but Xenon stopped him. "You are going to the sick bay. Don't worry. I'll back up that mugging story"


	5. Chapter 5

Syd was walking down the hallway of the academy when she overheard Schuyler having heated conversation with Dru. She was no stranger to eavesdropping so she moved closer.

"It's too dangerous, and against regulations"

"Really, would you just shut up about those stupid regulations? You can only get so far being a commander's pet. Eventually, you're going to get stuck doing paperwork because you refuse to take risk"

"When are you going to realize that you're going to get caught?"

"I've been doing this for three years. And I've never gotten close to getting in trouble"

"What about last night?"

"We weren't going to get caught. The authorities would have been too busy picking up all the huge criminals to care about two underage kids"

"You don't know that for sure. If I'm late for a class they'll kick me out. Do you know what probation means?"

"They had to have caught him. Once they know he's a criminal, you're name will be cleared"

She moved away worried. What could possibly have calm professional Schuyler so worried? She couldn't imagine him doing anything wrong, despite the suspicious conversation. The same couldn't be said for Dru. He was top man at the academy, but something about him bothered her. From the conversation, it sounded like he was pressuring Schuyler into breaking the rules.

She was standing in the hallway thinking about it when Schuyler walked past, "Forget where you're going?"

She could just imagine his annoying smirk, "No, I was just…", she turned hands on her hips, "What happened to your face?"

His face was swollen and basically destroyed. He brushed it off with the typical macho pride, "I was mugged last night. It's no big deal. I ended up scaring them away"

Syd couldn't resist rolling her eyes, "Aren't you the tough hero? Have you seen Xenon?"

He shook his head leaving quickly. Syd went up to her room still intent on finding her eccentric roommate to ask her about Schuyler's weird behavior. Xenon was in their room drawing again. Syd tried to look at the drawing, but Xenon covered it up as always, "Did you want something?"

Syd backed away, "No. I was just wondering, have you seen Schuyler's face?"

She hesitated, "Yeah, I saw him at breakfast. He looks terrible, but I didn't have time to ask. What happened?"

"Oh, nothing", she sat down on her bed; "He says he got mugged, but something's off."

Xenon shrugged, "It's Schuyler; what's the worst that could happen?"

Syd sighed sitting down. Bridge walked in holding his headphones, "Can I borrow some of your music?"

"You lost the other music?"

Bridge shrugged nonchalantly, "I just wanted something new to listen to"

"Liar. Here and don't complain"

She handed him her music player and he accepted it putting his headphones back and turning to leave. Xenon pulled him back and whispered something. He shrugged and left silently. Syd grabbed her hair brush idly running it through her thick curls.

"Syd, have you ever been able to do something unexplainable?"

"I have no idea what you mean"

"Did you ever make anything happen? Anything you couldn't explain when you were angry or scared?"

"What are you talking about?"

Xenon sighed, "Nothing. I was just… You know what? Forget it. Pretend I didn't say anything"

Xenon got up and left scrambling over her desk. A month at the academy hadn't made their room any larger. Syd watched her go as one of the dead batteries that were sprawled over her desk got stuck on the odd girl's pant leg.

Outside the room, Xenon moved to Bridge's room. "You know that it sucks that your room is so much bigger than mine?"

Bridge looked up, "You know that your taste on music sucks?"

"I told you not to complain. How'd you lose your music anyway?"

"Some jerked broke my music player. It will take me at least two days to fix it"

Xenon glanced at his desk which was covered in wires and fragments of fiberglass. "You sure that it will only take two days?"

"Trust me; I don't want to listen to this crap for longer than that"

Xenon rolled her eyes, "Why don't you try to live without music for two days? It's not going to get any easier if you refuse to try"

Bridge shook his head, "No, I think it's easier using my crutches. I'll keep the headphones."

"Speaking of crutches, Syd has no idea she has powers. I've been hinting at it for weeks, and I asked her as out rightly as I could without actually saying: do you have super powers, and she looked at me like I was from another galaxy"

"Weren't you actually born in a different galaxy?"

"That's not the point!"

Bridge laughed, "She'll figure it out eventually. I know for a fact that she has powers. I just can't figure out what those power's are. I can hardly break into her mind, and even if I could how could I find something that she doesn't know about."

"What's the point of being physic if you can't read minds?"

"What's the point of being a human magnet if you can't attract anything without it hitting you in the head?"

"I've been practicing. I found a new use for my power. I can attract people emotionally"

"Like, charisma, or is it more like some form or mysterious allure?"

"I prefer charisma. I can't figure out how to control it exactly, but I can make people like me. If I keep practicing then I might be able to make those bullies like me"

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't see that happening any time soon. Possibly after years, but not while we're still in school. Just because the other person should have some basic respect for you before it would be possible for you to work your magic"

Xenon sat next to Bridge crossing her legs, "I don't see you practicing your powers, genius boy"

"I can't practice by myself, because I need someone to read. But, I can't practice with someone else because I don't have enough control and I might hurt them. I can't get practice to get more control because that's dangerous as I already said"

"I think you're over thinking it just a bit"

"When do I over think things?"

"Couldn't you just stop", Xenon paused, "Think about what you just said and if you actually believe that then I'm sending you to see a shrink"

Bridge sighed, "Fine, I over analyze things a bit. What's your solution?"

"Practice on me"

"No"

"The amount of time I spend trying to get you to shut up, and now you stop talking"

Bridge pushed her away, "I can't risk hurting you. Remember the last time I tried to practice on a person?"

"He was fine… Eventually"

"No"

"Once?"

Bridge looked at his old friend flaking under her gaze. "Fine, but only for a few seconds and then I'll stop as soon as I think it's dangerous"

Xenon grinned evilly, "I just proved something"

"What?"

"I can convince you to do anything with my magnetism. It must be more effective with people I know"

Bridge was about to pull back on the offer, but he was so starved for human contact. The last person he'd touched skin on skin had a seizure, and that was three years ago. He removed his right glove holding his hand up. Xenon raised her hand to touch their fingertips together.

They both gasped as their minds collided. They could both feel the memories of the other mixing in a confusing mess. Bridge tried to pull himself back, but all contact with his body seemed disconnected. After the initial confusion, came the pain. Each mind was buried under the onslaught of twice as many memories and thoughts. Xenon screamed even though it couldn't be heard by either of them. Her mind was being easily crushed by Bridge's.

It was broken off suddenly. Bridge grabbed his glove pulling it back on before running out of the room. Xenon rubbed her temples trying to pull herself back to earth. She looked up barely able to focus. Schuyler was standing over her looking worried, "What happened? I heard you scream. So, I pulled you two apart"

She stood up shakily, "Remember when I said Bridge was physic? It's much worse than I thought. I always thought he was exaggerating when he said he could hear everyone all at once."

"Why did you scream?"

"His mind was so out of control. I talked him into reading me. It's a two way mind trick. He has zero control and it may be killing him"

Schuyler glanced in the direction Bridge had run, "Should we tell someone?"

Xenon straightened herself as best she could, "No, this is no time for your chain of command crap. We have to keep this a secret. Do you have any idea what your power is?"

"No, I didn't even know I had it until yesterday. Is it relevant?"

"Yes, my power is useless for helping Bridge, but you might be able to help. You said it showed up when you fought?"

"I honestly don't know what this 'power' is, if that's what you're asking"

"I wasn't expecting that. You do have to figure that out though. You don't want something freaky happening during training when you can't control it"

"What is Syd's ability?"

"She has no idea. I don't even think she's used it ever. It's hardly uncommon"

"If Bridge is physic, why can't he just read my mind?"

"You obviously just missed me screaming in pain because he _can't control it_. He's not going to risk hurting someone after what just happened. I can try to help you, but I'm no expert"

"I don't think any of us know what we're doing"

AN: I am the master of procrastination. It's been awhile since I updated. I've had terrible writer's block with this chapter, but I got it out eventually. Please, review, positive or negative doesn't matter, I just love the feedback.


	6. Chapter 6

In front of the academy, cameras flashed and reporters crowded around to suck the life out of the latest story. Cadet John Cooper from J squad had been arrested at the huge bust of a fight club. Lack of ID and a few well placed friends within the police had kept the arrest under wraps for several days. Xenon was sitting on one of the benches watching sadly.

Commander Cruger was at the center of this mob madness. All the reporters were attacking him with questions about why he hadn't been aware of the cadet's true alliances.

"Is it true that you let anyone in even if they have a record?"

"He didn't have a record before he was accepted. In fact, he had a cleaner record than most"

"Why was he on probation?"

"He got into a fight with another cadet. Since fighting is against regulation he was given one more chance before he was expelled"

"Isn't it regulation for immediate expulsion if they fight?"

"I was the first day of classes and we decided to show some leniency"

The questions poured on for what felt like forever. Eventually, Xenon got up and walked past the mob safely back to the school. Schuyler was looking through the glass doors, too nervous to exit.

"What are you so sacred of Tate?"

"You know why I'm nervous. What if he tells the police I'm involved?"

"They wouldn't believe him. Chill"

She left the nervous boy to walk back to her room. There was no point of staying and watching the circus parade. Cooper would get kicked out of the academy at least; there was no reason to worry.

Those thoughts were dispersed as someone pushed her against the wall. It was some tall blonde cadet that looked vaguely familiar.

"What do you want?"

He scowled darkly at her bored tone, "You know Tate?"

She pushed him away slightly, "He's in my squad. Of course I know him"

"Tell him: he's a dead man"

"If he's already dead, then I don't think telling him will do any good"

The cadet looked as if he wanted to slap her, but resisted the urge by pushing her against the wall again, "Fine, tell him he will be a dead man"

"I'm sorry, could I get your name and number so he'll know who's going to kill him before it happens?"

"You're brave; I respect that, but don't push your luck. Tate may have brought down Cooper, but he has no idea how many allies he has"

"Could you tell me?"

He snapped slapping the girl hard enough to make her stumble. She winced holding her cheek. "I'm guessing that's a no"

"Don't push me"

She had no intention listening to him, but she'd realized baiting him wouldn't end well. He started talking again, but she could care less what he was saying. Instead, she tried to use her power. She'd never successfully used magnetism on a person. What would it even be called? Magnetizing, luring, enticement none of those words sounded right.

She focused on his cold gray eyes looking for something to pull. It was ridiculous, a person wasn't metal how could she do this. Suddenly, a change went over his face. It softened even became sweet.

"You know, there's a way I could talk my friends into sparing Tate"

Xenon backed up, liking this look even less than when he'd been angry. "What would that be?"

"Go on a date with me?"

"GROSS!"

He looked at her oddly and she covered her mouth. She figured out what the right term for her power was: attraction. It was hard to resist running away in panic. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to this guy anymore.

"Not, gross. Hold on, I'll get back to you on that… I have to go and do something very important"

He watched her go with sweet grin.

Xenon practically ran to her room wishing she could slam her door instead of watching it slide slowly back to a closed. Syd was already in the room giving her a weird look.

"You look like you just saw a flying pig"

"It's much weirder than that. Someone just asked me out"

Syd squealed happily, "Really, that's great. Who is he?"

"No, it's not great. It's terrible. He's some lame bully that I hate"

Syd stood up, "So you said no?"

"You can do that?"

Syd rolled her eyes, "You've never been asked out before?"

Xenon laughed, "Take a good look at me. I'm an anti-social nerd and on top of that I'm a half-breed. Dating is hardly my strong point"

"You're not that bad. Get all that paper out of your hair you would be really pretty"

"Don't lie to me. What do I do?"

"Are you sure you don't like him? He's probably pretty cute"

"He's not bad looking in that obnoxious pretty boy way, but he's a jerk and a bully. I would rather date the emperor of crime himself then date a bully"

"Then tell him that. Kick him to the curb violently so he knows never to mess with you"

"I would love to, but he said that if I was his girlfriend then he wouldn't… he would stop being a bully"

"It's your choice. If you want to be miserable for the sake of others that a noble cause that's great. You're a better person than me"

Syd walked out of the room finding one of her friends within seconds. Xenon watched her go enviously. It was an old stupid dream to be popular like that. She'd hoped that her power would be able to fix that, but after today it seemed like a bad idea.

The only thing left to do was wait for him to come back. She'd never really thought about having a boyfriend before. The only friend she'd ever had was Bridge and she'd never even considered him as more than a friend. She'd never even had a proper crush. Spending too much time seeing how stupid and immature guys could be had hardened her to feelings like that.

She didn't even know what dating entailed. She'd seen the gushy couples that were connected at the lips, always holding hands and hugging. She remembered all the videos and lectures about not giving into the pressures of dating and several of her friends had been in abusive relationships. Together it made for a warped view of dating being unhealthy and weird. That didn't matter because she'd already made up her mind. Her own personal safety wasn't important next to the safety of Schuyler and the rest of the squad. Even if it was just one date, she had to try.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Again, it's been forever since I updated and I am sorry. Please take this chapter as a peace offering if anyone is still reading this.

Xenon walked into her room agitatedly, "Syd, I need you to talk me into this stupid date-thing again"

The blonde girl rolled her eye, now used to this indecision, "You deserve a night off and I'm sure that what-was-his-name?-"

"Lucas"

"Lucas is perfectly nice and cute… and romantic. He sent you all those flowers and the chocolate. It won't be a disaster"

Xenon rolled her eyes, "Don't try that with me. I'm a full supporter of Murphy's Law"

Syd looked confused, "I don't care who this Murphy guy is, but you will have a good time. At least you're going out. I have a study date with Bridge. I mean, he's cool, but when he, like, starts talking about computers, I have no idea what he's saying."

"I wish I could talk about computers all night"

Syd suddenly made her practiced sweet face, "You know, if I did your make-up, then you wouldn't have to say a word. He'd just fall for you without you opening your mouth"

The gangly girl shyed away, "No, I refuse to use make-up. And I'm not trying to make him fall for me. I did a pretty god job of that already. How could I be so stupid?"

While Syd was attempting to talk her roommate into make-up and a dress, Schuyler was getting a different pep talk.

"Do I have to argue with you for an hour every time we go out?"

Dru was in the mood for a party. Apparently, Cooper's arrest had done nothing but make him more excited to go out. In fact, he claimed they should celebrate not getting arrested. As much and Schuyler wanted to quit the dangerous pastime, he couldn't resist Dru's oddly persuasive ramblings.

"I should be studying for the programming test on Monday"

"You have three whole days to study. Tell me you really don't want to go"

Schuyler gritted his teeth knowing that there was only one answer to that and he lied through his teeth, "Yes, I really want to go partying"

"That's the spirit"

…

Five hours later, the teens had all gone their separate ways. Xenon was off on what would be an extremely awkward date, Schuyler was off pretending to have a good time at some party, and Bridge was attempting to teach Syd programming.

Bridge was completely failing at getting Syd to do anything. After an hour of failing to get her to focus on the computer screen, he gave to her request to having "class" outside. They walked down the nearest street talking about Syd's last project.

"I just don't understand why the colors were all wrong. I only wanted one line to pink, but the entire bottom half of the screen turned that color"

Bridge resisted the urge to roll his eyes and shake his head, "That's because you didn't close your brackets. As far as I can tell, most of your mistakes are because of brackets."

"What are brackets?"

"Have you taken any computer classes… ever?"

Syd looked at the ground embarrassed, "No, except for that class when we learned who to use the word processor and the spreadsheets"

Bridge gave her a look almost akin to horror, "No wonder you're lost. How'd you get this far? No computer class, I couldn't imagine a school like that"

"I can. I rather like the thought"

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of gunshots and screams. Both cadets ducked and realizing that they were nowhere near the shooter took the smart route, by running straight toward the sound of the gun. They peeked around the corner to see some rather disgusting alien aiming his gun at a screaming woman.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know that he'd find out. Please just don't kill me", the woman was crying and begging. The pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears.

The alien sneered and raised the gun, "I don't need ya tears. I guess ya kid's just gonna have ta live without her mamma"

The woman screamed and Syd made a split decision. She ran out and started jumping up and down yelling, "Hey, ugly. I'm over here. I'll call the police unless you out your gun down."

Bridge was barely able to stand as the combined emotion of the entire crowd pressed into his mind. Through the haze of panic and pain, he grabbed his phone and tried to send a panic signal to the others. He knew there was no chance that he could send a coherent message to emergency services so he just hoped one of the other two would pass along the panic message. He leaned over to see Syd dodge a blast. It seemed the adrenaline rush of courage was wearing down.

Syd did another flip, but she could feel heat of the bullet brush past her arm. She started shaking. She hoped Bridge had called 911. She glanced over quickly and saw him try to get up, but collapse limply against the brick wall. When she looked back and an explosion hit the ground next to her feet sending her flying into the wall.

She stood and knew that she'd have a huge bruise on her leg the next day. He aimed his gun at her again and she knew that she couldn't keep dodging. A trickle of blood ran down her cheek and she grabbed the closet thing she could find, a pipe.

The alien laughed as she held the pipe out in front of her, hand shaking. "You think that's going to protect you? Foolish girl"

She took a step forward intending to rush him, but her leg gave out. As if her body was finally catching up with the fight, pain flooded the whole left side of her body. She was about to resign herself to being shot and probably killed, when sirens sounded.

The alien looked up, "I guess I'll have to spilt. But not before I kill you"

He fired a shot straight at her and she threw the hand holding the pipe in front of her face. There was a shot and she felt something bounce of her hand and heard a loud clunk. She looked up to see the alien booking it down the street. The blonde glanced at her hand and it was completely unharmed. A few feet away she spotted the bullet, still smoking. Unable to stand straight, she half-crawled over to it and turned it over in her hand. It was smashed from impact. The first thought that popped into her head was that it must have bounced off the pipe. Pocketing the bullet,she looked up to see paramedics rushing towards her.

As if coming out of a dream, she realized what she'd just done. It wouldn't have been believable if she hadn't heard the woman that the alien had targeted wasn't babbling to the paramedic. "It was her. That girl saved my life. If she hadn't interrupted him then he would have killed me. He tried to shot her, but he kept missing. I owe her my life. I was so scared because I thought he was going to kill me. I have a child and if he'd killed me I don't know what would have happened to her"

Syd slowly stood, using the wall for support. She couldn't believe it. How could she have been so stupid and come away completely unscathed? Thinking of the pipe that had saved her life, she looked down at it. It was completely untouched. The only solution that came to mind was that it must be made of nearly indestructible metal.


	8. Chapter 8

Q Squad were all waiting around the command center in various states of nerves. Schuyler was pacing looking almost angry. Syd was sitting picking at a bandage on her hand self-consciously. Bridge was playing with the Velcro on his gloves not looking at the rest of the team. Xenon was alternating between biting her nails and pulling things out of her hair.

Xenon leaned over to Bridge. "Are you sure that we're not in trouble?"

Bridge slowly removed one of his gloves and read the auras of the workers around them. "They're not angry at us, but I don't know what Crueger thinks."

Xenon retreated, pulling a pebble from her sleeve, "Can I say again, I'm really sorry for not responding to your emergency message?"

Bridge sighed, "It didn't really make a difference the first fifty times, but sure you can repeat it. I don't blame you"

"You know, I said that the date would end it disaster. I was right wasn't I?"

"How'd that go?"

"The date? Terrible, he's an idiot and he doesn't even like computers"

"There's more to life than computers"

"I doubt it"

Their conversation was cut off by the doors opening and Dr. Manx walking in. They all jumped to attention, but she waved them down, "No need for that. I just came in to tell you that you're not in trouble. Crueger's not exactly happy that two of you didn't answer your communicators, but I think he's just happy to be getting some good press after the whole Cooper fiasco."

Schuyler shifted on his feet nervously, "So, why are we here, doctor?"

Kat sighed, "I have to check to make sure that your communicators are still working. Specifically yours, Syd, standard processor"

Xenon was biting her nails again, "But, we got the messages"

Schuyler inserted his textbook answer, "It's required that when any squad with less than two years of experience is attacked, that all equipment is tested. It's a rule because most cadets don't know how to inspect their own equipment to make sure it still works"

Syd laughed, "Did you swallow a handbook as a child?"

"No, I read it once…. Every year for my entire life. That's what your supposed to do. Read it every year your in the academy"

…

Even after moving to a tech lab, they were all awkward. Xenon tugged her hair, "How long is it going to take?"

Kat looked at her, "These tests take time. It would help if one of you could help"

Bridge jumped up, "I know how to do all the tests"

She nodded and Bridge lost his awkward touch, jumping into action. As the two computer masters worked, Kat looked up, "Someone please talk, I can't stand this silence."

They all looked around unsure of what to say. The cat-like alien looked at all of them, "I'm not going to report everything you say to Crueger. I just can't concentrate with this tension."

Syd spoke, "So, what happened on your date, Xenon?"

The girl looked up, "Can we all pretend that it didn't happen?"

Syd rolled her eyes, "Why are you always so negative?"

"Because, he's a douche bag"Bridge laughed, "Why do you hate him so much?"

"No real reason. I just don't like him and he annoys me. And I'm upset a little upset that I missed the distress call because of something as stupid as that"

Schuyler snorted and Syd glared at him, "Do you have something to say, Captain Cardboard?"

He looked down instead of staring down short girl like he normally would. She didn't seem to notice his odd behavior, because she continued, "That's good because I didn't see you answering the signal either. Where were you?"

"I was… training. I was training and I left my communicator in my room", Xenon could barely believe that Syd didn't see the blatant lying. Schuyler looked like each untrue word was choking him.

"Of course. You were training. You don't do anything else"

"Can't you just leave me alone? Is it too much to ask that you don't insult me for one day"

Noticing the building fight, gave Syd back her communicator, "Here you go. I finished the tests"

She didn't accept it, "I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking"

Xenon muttered under her breath, "I'm not thinking it. Mostly because it's not true"

Kat looked up from her work replying, "I agree, and I do regret saying that I didn't want silence"

"If everyone thinks I train too much then they must think that you're a spoiled brat that never had to do anything that would chip your pretty nails"

Bridge handed Xenon her communicator, "Yours is done too"

Xenon grabbed hers and Syd's communicators before grabbing the blonde girl and pulling her out of the room.

The two girls made it halfway down the hallway before Syd pulled away, "Why'd you do that?"

"Because I don't like my friends fighting. You guys didn't fight as much when we first met"

The blonde brushed her hair out of her face, "That was before I actually got to know him"

"Well, we're never going to graduate if you guys keep fighting. What happened to your hand?"

Syd glanced down at her hand, "I don't know. It's a bruise, but I don't remember how I got it. I must have landed on the back of my hand in the fight or something"

The taller girl bit her lip thinking, "How did you dodge that last bullet again?"

Syd rolled her eyes, "It bounced of the pipe, but the pipe was completely undamaged."

"The pipe was undamaged, but you got a bruised hand where you were holding it"

"Yeah, it's kinda weird"

Syd walked away leaving Xenon to her thoughts. The magnetic girl walked back into the testing room. Schuyler looked up as she held up a hand, "I don't want to talk to you. You know why I'm angry at you"

He nodded, "I've decided, I'm never going to do it again." Kat looked up curiously, "I'm through with that"

She nodded, "I hope you stick to that"

Schuyler received his fixed communicator as scooted out of the room with his normal stiff walk. Xenon turned to Bridge, "So, are you done yet?"

"Ever heard of patience?"

She looked over his shoulder, "Not really. I need to talk to you so could you hurry up?"

He started moving as slowly as he could just to annoy her. As he finally picked up his communicator, they started to walk down the hallway.

"What happened?"

"With Syd? She saved the day and I helped… by failing at calling for help"

"Not what I meant", she watched him carefully.

He turned pinching the bridge of his nose, "It's no big deal. I just let my guard down and once I let other people thoughts in then I can't blocked them out anymore. I can fix it next time, be better prepared"

"You're never going to be ready for a surprise attack like that. You can't put stuff like this off anymore. Maybe I'm not the best person to teach, you but…"

She trailed off as he stopped walking, "Do you know anyone who could help? Have you ever met anyone beside us, Schuyler, and Syd who had powers. You said yourself your not qualified and they don't even really know what their powers are. We're alone"

She waited for one of the older cadets to pass them and continued, "At least you understand your powers. How lame of a power magnetism? I can't even control it anymore"

For once, he looked surprised, "You're losing control. I thought the whole magnetizing thing just came naturally"

"It does, but lately it's not happening the same, naturally or when I force it. I mean look at me. There are pebbles sticking to my skin. That's not normal. And remember when I learned I could manipulate other peoples emotions so that they would be more amiable. I can't do that anymore. That's why Syd and Schuyler are fighting. And I can't stop it anymore"

"How do you know that they didn't just build up a tolerance or something?"

"Because they went from tolerating each other to yelling at each other every five minutes in one day. It don't think that _building a tolerance"_

"_Oh", Bridge scratched his head, "I didn't notice that… Maybe it's a good thing. Don't force to be amiable and they'll build up a tolerance to each other's habits. They'll get along eventually"_

"_I'm not so sure about that", she looked at him, "They'll never get along"_

_The both nodded in complete agreement. Xenon remembered her conversation with Syd, "I think Syd may have just come in contact with her powers for the first time"_

"_In the fight, she wasn't feeling freaked out"_

_She sighed, "She didn't think anything was strange. You did hear the story? She said bullet bounced of the pipe she was holding, but the pipe was undamaged and she has this bruise on her hand. Sounds suspicious, right?"_

"_Strange, you think she's got indestructible skin or something?" _

"_That seems a little far fetched, because she got a bruise…I have no clue what her power is"_

"_We need help"_

"_We needed help in back elementary school"_

_Bridge suddenly had an idea and turned himself upside down to stand on his head. The girl watched him waiting for him to come up with a brilliant idea like normal, but he sighed, "I have no idea what to do. I can't remember a time when standing on my head didn't work"_

_As Bridge started to get up, Lucas walked in the hallway. "Hey, Xenon, how are you?"_

_She turned around wincing, "Hey, Lucas, I'm doing fine. It's… I wish I could talk, but I have to go do, um, training. I have to train. I'm a going to train right now alone, with Bridge", she wrapped an arm around her friend that was now standing upright again, "I'm going to train not alone, but with Bridge. So I'll just be going now. Bye"_

_Bridge was pulled away by the girl. "That was handled well"_

"_Shut up", she turned the corner and continued walking, "Why does he like me?"_

"_Because of that freaky spell you put on him"_

"_It should have worn off by now. I tried to act as obnoxious as I could around him, and he just ignored it and accepted it"_

"_That's a sign of true love. Accepting someone's every flaw"_

_She turned to him, "If you don't stop talking, I swear I'll steal your headphones"_

_There was silence and she turned to see Bridge standing frozen. "I said stop talking, not stop walking . I want to get as far away from the douche bag as I can", he didn't move, "Bridge, are you OK? Stop playing around. Bridge! Talk to me!"_

_He snapped back to attention, "There's another physic here"_

_Xenon froze, " You're kidding, how could you not notice this before?"_

"_He must not have been here before", Bridge had a dopey grin, that was rarely seen, "He just called out to me. Said he knew my pain and could fix it. We have to find him"_

_Bridge ran off and Xenon chased him, "Wait, shouldn't we tell Schuyler or Syd? No, we shouldn't tell Syd, but we should tell Schuyler"_

_He shrugged, "Fine let's find him now. The faster the better"_

_AN: Thanks to all the people who reviewed or read or whatever. My finals are officially over, so I'm celebrating with this chapter. Enjoy!_


	9. Chapter 9

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Xenon rolled her eyes at Schuyler, but he couldn't see that in the dark. "I already said five times that if you have a better plan, we'd love to hear it."

He backed off as Bridge looked around one of the many dark corners in the academy. He suddenly signaled and they dodged into the nearest room. They followed without questioning, but after a few minutes no one had walked past. Schuyler listened carefully, "There's no one coming"

Bridge shook his head, "The advantage of being psychic is your can hear people coming long before they make any noise"

As he turned back, the other two finally heard the guards they were hiding from. Two voices, garbled by the metal door, passed by and Bridge turned back to them, "See, who would have been caught without me?"

Xenon laughed and they began to sneak down the hallway again. The taller boy was still nervous about sneaking around after hours, "Look, I get the whole curiosity thing, but does it really have to be at two in the morning"

Bridge answered without looked back, "More people are asleep at this time. Makes this whole place much quieter. We'd be wandering for hours if I had to deal with waking consciousnesses"

This was accepted grudgingly and they finally made it to the floor where the voice had come from. Bridge didn't look around, but took off his gloves trying to find the person who'd called him. The others did look and one look told them that things had just gotten a lot more complicated.

The hallway was full of cells for criminals that were yet to be judged. Schuyler turned around, "I'm out. I'm not doing this if we have to work with criminals"

Xenon grabbed his arm, "Stay, we'll need you if something goes wrong"

"If? You do mean when, right?"

"At least stay for five minutes, please. I'm not sure about this either, but we have to try", her voice had dropped even lower than a whisper so Bridge wouldn't hear, "If you leave now, I'll tell Syd why you didn't get the emergency signal"

"You wouldn't"

She shrugged and turned to Bridge, "Have you found him?"

He nodded, "Yes, are you done threatening Schuyler now?"

"How… right, you read my mind. I really should have seen that one coming", they walked down the hallway and Schuyler followed, dragging his feet.

The psychic turned at one particular cell looking into the dark space. Inside, someone was lying on their back. It was impossible to tell if their eyes were opened or closed.

"OK, I think we should come back later, or never. I mean he's clearly asleep so—"

The taller boy was cut off by Bridge covering his ears and collapsing to his knees. The girl stooped to pick him up, but she stopped when the figure from the cell sat upright. She froze, but Schuyler jumped into action and pulled both of them back. Bridge was shaking now, hands still pressed to his ears, "To loud… it's too much"

The figure looked at them and walked into the light of the threes flashlight. He was an alien, short, with a human looking face, but six arms. Something about the creature looked oddly spliced together, like he was some kind of Frankenstein monster. Maybe, it was the snake like hair attached to human head or the human hands attached to the tentacle arms. His skin was mottled with a mix of green, pink, and grey.

He looked down at Bridge with a look of surprise and the boy sat up, free of whatever had attacked his mind. The alien spoke with a rough croak, "What are you doing here?"

Bridge backed away, alarmed by the psychic's appearance, "Are you the one who called me? You said you felt my pain. You said you were psychic"

The alien nodded, "I wasn't expecting a human."

"We weren't expecting a criminal", Xenon stood, the only one unalarmed by the aliens appearance, "I hope it's not a problem."

He looked her up and down and smiled. Its teeth were crooked and wickedly sharp, "I see you're having a few problems yourself. Aren't you X?"

Schuyler stood, cutting off the conversation, "Look, this is nice, but you're locked up there for a reason. Why are you there?"

"I suppose, telling you that it wasn't my fault would do nothing. And I won't because I am guilty. I'd prefer to keep my crime to myself though"

Schuyler clenched his fist, "You're guilty and you want us to trust you"

He nodded again, "Why are you so worried? I wouldn't be able to touch you even if I did escape"

All three teens' expressions changed to confusion. Bridge and the alien looked up in unison, "Someone's coming"

Xenon grabbed the boys and they turned to run, but Bridge stopped looking back, "Wait, I never asked you're name"

The alien smiled, "Call me Minty. I don't think you'd be able to pronounce my full name"

They all took off down the opposite stairs to the way they came and soon they had returned back to their rooms. Bridge quickly put his gloves back on.

"I don't trust him"

"I know you don't Schuyler, but he's our only option"

"You saw what he did to Bridge"

The psychic interrupted what was about to be a fight, "He wasn't trying to hurt me. I usually build up walls so that I don't hear other people's thoughts, and earlier today he had to knock down all those walls just so I would hear him. Tonight, I had all my walls down, but he didn't know that, so when he tried to talk using our minds, it was too much pressure and I had to push him out. He didn't try to hurt me"

Xenon knew he was telling the truth. "Is there any time to hack into the system and find out his crime?"

He nodded, "I'll have the information in five minutes"

Schuyler opened his mouth and the gangly girl put a hand up to stop him, "Either help, or go away. I know you need those solid eight hours of sleep to be the perfect cadet you are"

His expression hardened, "I think Syd's been rubbing off on you"

"She is, but right now you do need to decide if you're going to help or not. We can't have you coming along just so you can say 'This is a bad idea every three seconds. I don't want to work with a criminal anymore than you do, but at least he was honest about being guilty"

"That makes him a psychopath, not a good man"

She sighed and walked away, "Fine, if you don't want to help, then we'll leave you alone."

He started to walk away, convinced that he had to follow his promise not to break any rules. The second he'd heard that he'd missed an emergency distress signal from his own teammates; he'd decided that he wouldn't break any of the academy's rules. It was far too risky, not for himself, but what if Syd or Bridge had gotten hurt in that fight. Even when Dru had inevitably tried to talk him into another party that day, it had become easier to say no.

He looked back at where Bridge and Xenon were hard at work breaking even more rules by hacking into the city's criminal records. It should be easy to ignore them and stay out of trouble, but he was curious to know what Minty had meant when he said that he wouldn't be able to touch him.

He turned back and walked over to them, "Fine, I'll help. I need to know what my power is"

Bridge looked up, a child-like happiness shining through his smile, "We knew you'd come back… but right now let us computer nerds do all the hacking stuff. There's not much you can do right now"

He nodded and went to be as the other two stayed up late to find out the story of their new teacher.

AN: Is this new teacher really going to help the team, or will he just ruin everything they've been trying to fix? We'll find out more next chapter


	10. Chapter 10

AN: I'd apologize for taking forever to update, but I think it's better to just jump into the chapter and conveniently forget that I haven't updated all summer. *innocent grin*

Xenon was sitting on a couch staring at a tin can in front of her so intensely that she didn't even hear Schuyler walk in. The boy watched her sit perfectly still for a few seconds before deciding to ask, "What are you doing?"

She jumped to her feet in surprise, buy returned to sitting position when she realized that it was only him. She looked at the can again before answering.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm practicing using the force so I can become a Jedi master"

"A what?"

Xenon looked taken back, "Did you have a childhood?"

He looked indignant at the question, "I know what Star Trek-"

"Wars"

"What?"

"It's Star _Wars_"

"Fine, I know what Star **Wars** is, I just don't get why it's relevant"

Xenon looked like she wanted to explain, but gave up before actually telling him what it meant. Instead she began focusing in the can again. Schuyler watched her in amusement until he noticed that the can was actually moving. At first it was so slow that one would barely notice, but without warning, the can shot all the way across the room and ricocheted off the far wall.

Xenon leapt to her feet cheering, "I did it!"

"I thought you were a magnet?"

She ran to the other side of the room to pick up the can,

"It was Minty that figured it out really. See magnets have two poles right? So I can both attract and repel objects. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Why would want to repel things?"

"There are many reasons", she commented, "the most important begin that I can now get rid of Lucas. That sounds so good just to say"

"He's still bothering you"

"Define bother. I mean his existence kind of bothers me to begin with", Xenon was trying to send the can flying again, with less success. Schuyler watched her try for a few minutes before interrupting again.

"So, Minty is actually helping you and Bridge?"

"Yes, he is which you would know if you didn't insist on always begin a safe twenty feet away from him. He can't help you unless you talk to him"

Schuyler shrugged off the suggestion. Every since the first night, he hadn't gotten within hearing distance to the criminal even though he always accompanied Bridge and Xenon to the cell. He had to admit that Bridge did seem to be improving. He'd even seen the psychic go a whole day with being plugged into his headphones.

"Have you gotten any farther with his files yet?"

Xenon gave up trying to move the can and turned to look at him, "For the last time, there are no files. The reason that he's being held in a cell and no a card is because passing judgment physically doesn't work on his species. The police have to investigate the old fashioned way and so far no one on the investigative team has put anything useful in the SPD database. Not since this morning anyway"

Schuyler sighed and sat down next to her, "Do you think he's guilty?"

She didn't answer at first, carefully thinking about her words, "I think that he's a good person. I don't think he'd hurt anyone he cared about, but I get the feeling that if someone tried to hurt him or someone her cared about then he would do anything to stop them. Whether or not that makes him guilty, I don't know"

"But, you think I should ask him for help"

"Yes"

The answer was straight forward and firm. Xenon looked up at her squad-mate as he considered his options. "One time. I'm only going to talk to him once and if he can't help me then I'm going back to stay twenty feet away.

...

Minty was pretending to sleep when the three cadets came to his cell, as usual. The second they stopped by the bars, the alien's eyes opened and he pulled himself over to them stiffly.

"So, you finally decided to join us Captain Cardboard", he croaked.

"How did you know that...?"

"That's what Sydney calls you. I know because when you two fight, it drowns out the thoughts of everybody in the base. You have quite the temper under that stony face"

Schuyler could help but shudder at the thought of some random alien always being able to enter his head. Minty must have been read his thoughts just them because the alien snorted, "Don't have a big head. Why would I want to listen to some teenager's thoughts all day. It gets very boring"

Schuyler repressed a snarl and calmly continued, "I came to see if you could actually help me"

Minty nodded and then turned to Bridge, "Do you think you could read his aura?"

Bridge nodded, "I think, I'm still not very good at it. It's not the easiest thing to practice and people weirder out when I just start waving my hand around"

Bridge quickly removed his glove and slowly moved it across his body like his was pulling back a curtain. For a second his face took on a very blank look and his eyes glazed over. As he pulled out of the daze he spoke, "It's kind of blue. Blue and red, but not purple like Xenon's was. It's like the red and the blue don't mix together at all, which is weird because they should. Maybe I'm just seeing it wrong"

Minty shook his head, his scaly skin glinting off the flashlight held in Xenon's hand, "No, that's right. Or at least it's very similar to what I see. Even though I've noticed that you see very different colours than I do"

Scuttled watched Bridge pull his glove back on grinning like it had been the first time he'd done something right all day.

Minty then turned to Schuyler, "So you want to know what your power is?"

"Yes"

The alien grinned, or that what Schuyler assumed. It was hard to see past the sharp teeth that jutted I'm so many different angles that the cadet had to wonder how he ate without biting his tongue off.

"Force Field"

Schuyler snapped out of his thoughts, "What?"

The alien raised an eyebrow clearly known what the cadet had been thinking, "Your ability is to make force fields"

"That's impossible", he replied stiffly.

Xenon was sitting cross-legged on the floor at that point and made a point of commenting, "Somehow I think being a human magnet is more impossible than force fields"

"How do I make a force field?"

"It's your power not mine", the alien replied dryly, "And in all honesty I don't know if I can help you. I've never met someone who could create force field before"

"You've met a human magnet, but you have met someone like me?"

Minty laughed at that, "You may have a sense of humour after all... I've never met someone exactly like Xenon, but I've met many telekinetics before so I at least have a faint idea of how she works. You on the other hand would probably handle individual study better"

A faint beeping noise from Bridge's watch alerted them to move on. As they headed back to their rooms, Schuyler spoke, "How am I supposed to figure out how to do this?"

Bridge, as always seemed to come up with a plan, "You could always glue your feet to the ground and then get a pitching machine to throw baseballs at you and then you'd have to instinctively create a force field so you wouldn't get bruised"

"That is the worst idea I have ever heard"

Xenon laughed at Schuyler's doubts coming up with and intentionally worse plan, "No, baseballs wouldn't create enough survival instinct. We should try shooting you. I'm sure Syd would just love to oblige"

Schuyler hesitated, "I'll go with Bridge's idea"


End file.
